Last month, the Senate voted 52-33 in favor of confirming Craig Becker for a seat on the National Labor Relations Board. Or, to put it another way, Becker's nomination failed. Republicans filibustered his appointment, which meant that he needed 60 votes, not 51.

Just another day at the office? Not quite, because there's a backstory here that makes this case of routine Republican obstructionism even worse than usual. The NLRB, it turns out, was the battleground for the first filibuster ever of a presidential nominee to the executive branch, one of Jimmy Carter's appointments back in 1980, and it was the opening shot in the GOP's war against unions that's lasted to this day.

But in the case of the NLRB, Republicans and Democrats soon worked out a truce: The president would be allowed to name three appointees to the five-person board, and the other party would be allowed to name two. Obama followed this pattern, nominating two Democrats and one Republican shortly after he was sworn in. Republicans initially went along with this, and all three of Obama's nominees were reported out of committee.

But, as John Judis put it in The New Republic, "What happened next says a lot about the sorry state of politics in Washington." John McCain, still bitter over his loss to Obama and preparing for a primary battle against a right-wing opponent, put a hold on Becker. His nomination went back to committee, but this time Republicans, under pressure from business interests, decided to break the 30-year-old truce. Using a paper-thin excuse, they voted unanimously against him, and when the package of nominations went to the Senate floor, Republicans voted unanimously again. With 60 votes required to break the Republican filibuster, all three of Obama's nominations—nominations that had been agreed to by the GOP leadership months before—failed.

In other words, even for the modern Republican Party, this was pretty squalid behavior. Not only did they break their own leadership's agreement to seat Becker, but their intransigence has left the NLRB barely even functional. With three seats open, they don't have a quorum for any but the most routine business.

So what's next? There are two choices: Either Obama caves, or else he makes a recess appointment. His next opportunity is the Easter recess from March 29 to April 11. It's one he shouldn't pass up.